GM Fireclaw's SFS PBP 1-27 King Xeros of Star Azlant (Inactive)

Game Master FireclawDrake

Dot and delete

Several technicians hustle between rows of starships in the Lorespire Complex’s hangar bay, making final modifications to the crafts as several begin powering up their engines. They diligently circumvent a group of Starfinders huddled around Venture-Captain Naiaj, a bleachling gnome who speaks with a quick and commanding voice. “Time is of the essence, so I must be brief. Refugees from a lunar base in the Vast called Peak of Evening contacted us requesting information about a strange, crewless starship docking there. The ship’s description matches that of the King Xeros, an ether ship supposedly built by the Azlanti of lost Golarion, according to records preserved from old Pathfinder Chronicles we keep under lock and key. This ship might be our best chance to follow up on the work of ancient Pathfinders—possibly even the fate of Golarion—since the Gap, so the stakes are high."

“Note that I said ‘refugees’: we’re not the only ones interested in the King Xeros. The Azlanti Star Empire wants the ship too, and they got to Peak of Evening first. They violently annexed the station and have been doing godsknow- what with the King Xeros since then, most likely gearing it up for transport back to the Aeon Throne and the Azlanti Star Empire. If the King Xeros reaches the Azlanti’s home system of Aristia, our chance to learn from it will be gone forever. That’s why I’ve been fighting to get this emergency salvage mission sanctioned by the Forum, and I just received clearance this morning. We’re going to sting the Azlanti operation at Peak of Evening, liberate the King Xeros, and hopefully acquire some information the Society cares about deeply."

“I’m sure you know that the Star Empire is among the most well-equipped, well-organized, and ruthless organizations in the universe. The only way we pull this off is with teamwork, skill, and more than a little luck. That’s why I’ll be flying out with you and directing the mission from my personal starship. You’ve all been organized into teams to help this mission go smoothly: Scout Team will take a Pegasus and tackle recon and analysis, Shield Team will take a Drake and intercept hostile interference, and trike Team—that would be you—will take whichever ship you think best to get you on the ground and keep us moving forward. Get whatever you need, then rendezvous by the Master of Stars; we’ll assume formation and launch into the Drift there. I’ll answer additional questions as we board. Let’s move out!”

The slides linked at the top will have information on each ship type you can select, as well as images of NPCs, and other important information.

Beta snaps its augmented heels, and salutes:  »Yes, Venture-Captain Naiaj. »

The android then turns to check out the other members of the strike team:  »I imagine some are more qualified than I to select the best ship. I will defer to their judgement. I am ready to go to the rendez-vous point. But if any need a hand with something... »

If there is a Starship tag, I can offer to slot a boon to take the ship from part 3 of Dead Suns, the « Crypt Warden ».

Goose, standing near the bleachling gnome, pulls up the ship stats on his wrist-mounted datapad. A pair of small holograms appear floating above his arm while he taps his tiny digits across a miniature keyboard. He motions his right hand to spin the ships about and performs some calculations, nodding his head and muttering something under his breath.

The Ysoki nods at his findings and looks up at the group.

"I believe the Drake would suit us better. If we plan to engage as a Strike Team with the dreaded Azlanti, I believe more firepower is in order. Does anyone offer an alternative viewpoint and wish to discuss the pros and cons?", looking up and around at the others.

At the conclusion of Venture-Captain Naiaj's briefing Hollis addresses his fellow Starfinders. He is a rather unassuming human of middle years with a military bearing. While he is human, feathers sprout from various places of his anatomy.

"Some of you know me," he nods to Buzz, "The rest of you I'm meeting for the first time. My name is Hollis Brucke. I did a tour in the Stewards before enlisting with the Starfinder Society. I'm a trained field medic and relations specialist. I've been in a few scrapes, but I've always managed to pull through. Follow my lead if it comes to a skirmish and I'll make sure you do too."

He scratches idly at a patch of feathers.

"As for crewing a starship, I generally like to leave the choice of ship up to the pilot, though I tend to agree with the ysoki. I've never regretted coming loaded for bear. Buzz here flew our team into the Scoured Stars, and there's nobody else I trust more at the helm. I'm most comfortable in command, myself."

Something that looks like highly-stylised robot, with a torso like that of a stainless steel Ysoki, held aloft by four massive, spider-like mechanical 'legs', scuttles easily into the room, several large cannons strapped to its back.

At first glance, it is easy to dismiss it as simply a robot, or possibly some form of SRO... but then the casual viewer spots that it still has moist, all-too living eyes, which dart around quickly, taking in its surroundings.

It nods to Hollis, and then greets the others in a deliberately over-synthesised voice.

"Hello. As Hollis said, I am Buzz. I am a reasonably decent pilot, and am pretty good at hacking systems, and taking apart technology. I agree, I generally find that taking a chassis loaded for bear is something that I never regret doing."

Mordack has no question and introduces himself even though Mordack is a girl for mechanical purposes cause of the pregen, what a charm spell? to the group. Sounds simple enough. Name's Mordack.

Hollis moves to board the ship with the rest of the team.

"Venture-Captain, is there anything the records tell us about the King Xeros? A deckplan maybe? Are we to be allowed to read any surviving mission reports ourselves? Do we have any intel on Peak of Evening, its moon, or nearby planets, planetoids, or moons?"

Beta greets his fellow strike team members: "Hello, Hollis. Good to have a field medic. Hey, Mordack! And, Buzz, hi, nice to have a pilot - with such cool legs."

Wearing light armor - a reinforced jumpsuit - with a helmet, and a utility belt with a few toolkits attached to it, Beta uses three rune-engraved singing disks as weapons (one with a short chain attached to it).
A non-sexuated android, with yellow lights under its dark synthskin, Zeta has heavily augmented legs, and feet - and his armor has upgrades along the arms.

"I am a Prototype Android & Nanite Genesis Enterprise - Akiton PANGEA Beta model serial #101218-702, but it is easier to call me Beta. Sadly, I am not Steward, just the Head of Security for PANGEA."

Beta scratches its head, and looks to its comrades, happy to gather any information, though it cannot do so itself.
No Culture.

Beta rushes on board, follows Naiaj's briefing, and buckles in, ready to travel.

"Enough chit-chat, you can chat when we're in the Drift! Grab your gear and move it Starfinders!" the Venture-Captain shouts from across the deck as flight crews scramble to ensure the ships being deployed are stocked and ready to fly.

Once the Starfinders are aboard their ship and follow Scout Team and Shield Team into the Drift, there's more chance to conversation, and Naiaj takes some time to answer questions via holovid from Shield Team.

"Unfortunately only scraps of references to the King Xeros remain, we don't have any detailed information such as a blueprint or anything similar. Peak of Evening was a modest lunar trading hub mainly dealing in geological and botanical resources harvested from the moon's surface. While the moon does have an atmosphere, it is thin on oxygen, so make sure your armour's environmental seals are in place. The station itself should have breathable air."

Culture: 1d20 + 12 + 4 ⇒ (10) + 12 + 4 = 26.

Buzz looks up from a computer display built into his left arm.

"I've done a brief data search. Here is a brief summary - Azlanti soldiers are recognizable via their distinctive grey-and-green Aeon Guard armour, which completely covers their faces, and their use of equipment that incorporates aeon stones, many of which originate in Azlanti space.

Some records suggest that the Azlanti actually hail from lost Golarion, although some disaster uprooted them from their ancestral home and relocated them to what would become the seat of their current empire. The King Xeros was supposedly built by Golarion’s ancient Azlanti, although its original purpose remains a mystery."

Culture: 1d20 + 12 + 1d6 + 1 ⇒ (8) + 12 + (6) + 1 = 27

Goose nods his head in vigorous agreement with the other ysoki, Buzz. His ideas based on Azlanti culture align with the findings of the diminutive mechanic.

Culture check: 1d20 + 16 ⇒ (2) + 16 = 18

Seeing gaps in his historical notes, Goose taps on his keypad and updates the Azlanti file while scratching his head. He's unsure how so big of a gap could have occurred. He quickly implements a subroutine to update his database.

culture: 14 + 1d20 ⇒ 14 + (9) = 23 Though Mordack knows a lot, he has to let his allies tell him the other stuff.

Once Beta is all buckled up onboard the ship, it looks at its comrades: 'May Triune smile on--" but the android suddenly freezes up, and then all the yellow lights under its dark synthskin start flashing, and you hear a lot of computerized bleeps and blips.
An announcement can be heard: "PANGEA has decided to upload a brand new test character into this shell, in order to show its trust in, and implication with, the Starfinder Society. Please enjoy the new prototype model, and we would love it if you could report all and any bugs to our dedicated website."
You all receive a link to a reporting thread.
Then, Beta seems to go back online. And it finishes it sentence as if nothing had happened: "--us. Off we go!"

As things get settled somewhat for the extended space journey, the curiosity of the mission becomes the focus of Goose's attention. He, with his newly formed crew, seek out further answers to questions that have been forming from the Venture Captain.

"As the good doctor Hollis stated, earlier, Venture-Captain, is there anything the records tell us about the King Xeros? A deckplan maybe? Are we to be allowed to read any surviving mission reports ourselves? Do we have any intel on Peak of Evening, its moon, or nearby planets, planetoids, or moons?" recites the ysoki as he reads from his datapad the questions posited earlier.

As the ship blasts off, a panel pops up from the ship, and a Android with shock pink hair and glowing pink electro tats sticks her head up from the floor. She's covered in grease, and a large drone seems to be holding her up. Your not... exactly sure how the drone fit down there.

Sorry I'm late everyone! I just got so invested into patching up the drakes weapons system, I lost track of time!

She wipes some grease from her face and holds out her now greasy hand as the bot sets her down and crawls out itself.

I'm Gear 2.0, nice to meet you! You might know me from my time on Live Exploration Extreme!

She twirls and gives a V victory pose. She then throws a thumb over her shoulder to the big bot, who looks almost like a bouncer with a holoscreen for a face.

This is my sweetums, Boytoy.

A clip from a old western showing a man tipping his hat appears on the vidscreens.

[Drawl]Please to meet ya pardners.[/drawl

Beta glances at the open panel, then at Gear and Boytoy, raising an eyebrow: "Hu... hullo!"

The Starfinders have some time to get used to each other and to their ship, a Drake named The Seeker's Promise, on the trip to the vast. The Drift isn't cooperating with the navigation, but eventually Naiaj announces to the small fleet that they are reaching their destination. The crew of The Seeker's Promise ready themselves to drop out of the Drift...

As the Starfinder force emerges from the Drift, Scout Team races ahead toward a metallic black station built into the surface of a pale pink moon. The other teams orbit the distant periphery until Scout Team’s leader, Amster, speaks over the comms: "We have dense concentrations of Azlanti structures and activity up ahead. I’m getting some heavy energy output from the main construction bay, but it looks like they’ve stationed lots of guards around some kind of greenhouse at the eastern border, even installed new artificial atmosphere throughout the area. Orders, Captain?"

Venture-Captain Naiaj’s voice responds. "Clearly the Azlanti care most about those two locations. I assume they’ve used the construction bay to work on the King Xeros, but I don’t know why the plants seem so important. Regardless, once their surface fighters and defensive cannons are running we’ll be on the clock, so we’ll probably be able to hit only one. Scout Team will screen for bogies while Shield Team runs anti-air interference. Strike Team, you’re the ones on the ground, so you choose our location and we’ll cover you. Once Scout Team draws the fire, strike with a quick strafing run to take out the Azlanti garrison, then land and find whatever info you can about our target. Look alive, folks!"

Strike Team, that's you guys. Where to? Greenhouse or Construction Bay? Once you've chosen, you may begin your attack run.

To perform the strafing run properly, we need the following checks:
Pilot: Flyby Stunt Maneuver (DC27 Piloting)
Science Officer: Lock On to provide firing solution (DC 20 Computers)
Engineer: Divert Power to Weapons (DC22 Engineering)
Gunners: You are aiming for AC 20. Damage as normal.
Captain: You may use any action to boost your crew as you see fit.

"Well crew, do any of you have a target of preference?"

I can encourage or demand for a +2/+4 to somebody's check if they feel particularly weak. Does anybody want to claim any particular roles?

"Greenhouse seems odd, and I'm the curious sort, so I'd vote for going against this unexpected plant-issue. But I'll follow any order and decision."

re. attack run: Beta has +13 Engineering & Gunnery, so I'd prefer to go for one of those (I imagine we have great pilots, but just in case I have +5 Piloting).
@GM: I finished cleaning up my character sheet and have the Botting dice rolls at the bottom

Buzz uses some cabling to link himself directly into the ship's computer, and starts concentrating, causing the ship's engines to starting whining.

Piloting: 1d20 + 21 ⇒ (6) + 21 = 27.

Ouch. That was close!

To speed things up:
1d20 ⇒ 3
I imagine there are Master Engineers, so:
Gunnery (+13) = 16 & fail
Otherwise same failed result as Engineer

Just an engineer, I go where my captain tells me.

Gear hopes down into the panels into the underneath of the ship and begins her work.

Super charging weapons!

Engineering: 1d20 + 14 ⇒ (9) + 14 = 23

"Stay on target!"

Intimidate to Demand (expertise, Honorary Spider) for Gunnery: 1d20 + 14 + 1d6 + 1 + 1 ⇒ (6) + 14 + (3) + 1 + 1 = 25

Goose will take controls of one of the guns and let loose!

Guns blazing!: 1d20 + 12 ⇒ (11) + 12 = 23

The ysoki lets out a joyous holler as he scores a hit!

Beta's aim at the gun w. the roll of 16 totally fails, going off-mark.
The reboot does not start with a bang.

Mordack will continuously lock onto the ship round after round. This pregen is equipped with a +21 computers skill. He should be the science offer. Failure is impossible.
computers: 21 + 1d20 ⇒ 21 + (15) = 36

The crew swoops in towards the greenhouse, Buzz juking and twisting towards the landing zone. While Beta's gun destroys some ground-based defenses, it is the antimatter missile launched by Goose that strikes true...

Missile Damage; 1s become 2s: 10d10 ⇒ (2, 9, 9, 1, 8, 6, 7, 7, 7, 9) = 65 for 66 damage

WIP don't respond

The missile strikes with unerring accuracy and explodes fantastically, sending detrius shooting out into space and disabling the local defenses as well and damaging the greenhouse itself. Buzz quickly moves to set down The Seeker's Prommise just outside the greenhouse to allow the Starfinders to investigate.

Elsewhere, Scout and Shield team seem to be doing alright for now and are holding off the remaining Azlanti forces, but there's no time to waste, so the Starfinders move to secure the greenhouse on foot.

Pale-green plants writhe and shrivel as they burn away from the lunar surface, ignited by the blast of starship weapon fire. Plumes of light-gray smoke billow from the inferno, rising as high as the fractured atmospheric shell before getting sucked through the cracks and dissipating into the vacuum of space. Near the center of the broken field stands a wiry research tower, barely visible beyond the roaring flames. With the research tower as the only obvious point of reference, the Starfinder make their way towards it. Ahead through the smoke there appears to be a strange crustacean alien creature... and a group of Aeon Guard! It seems there were some survivors to your assault!

The air is quickly escaping from the greenhouse so the atmosphere is thin here, necessitating you to use your armour's environmental protections.

Squares which are burning on the map block vision (total concealment) and standing adjacent to them is probably unhealthy. Standing inside them is not advised unless you are immune to fire.

Tokens are colour-coded, please make sure you are specifically calling targets. If you are color-deficient then I will use a different system just let me know.

Goose & Buzz are up!

ROUND 1 begins

Buzz moves forward.

Goose also moves forward, using the rocks as cover.

The Azlanti also move forward, attempting to form a defensive position along the choke point with the blazing fires on either side and smoke billowing out. The strange crustacean creature is out front, and does not appear to have any weaponry other than what biology gave him.

One of the Azlanti (Red) fires a jetpack and flies into the air 30 feet, attempting to gain a better vantage point, though the smoke from the flames is blocking almost all vision.

Mordack, Beta, and Hollis are up!

Current conditions: Thin atmosphere, low gravity. Red is 30 ft in the air. All squares with fire are dangerous, and provide total concealment.

Beta moves forward, past its comrades, switching its jetpack on to go up the steps, and place itself far enough from the fire, facing the enemy.

Ah, gotcha In that case I will fireblast, aka starfinders fireball on red, purple and green after moving forward. assuming I can see them, if not heroes that can see them can tell me where to fireball, it has a 180 foot range and does a 20 foot radius. If I can't see them and it don't work that way that heroes can tell me cooridnates, just move me another 30 feet closer and ignore the roll. ie a doublemove.
dmg: 9d6 ⇒ (3, 3, 3, 4, 1, 4, 2, 2, 5) = 27 reflex 20 for half edit: I just realized it might miss red, cause he is 30 foot in the air, Unless the rocks nearby have enough height to them, but the other two it would definitely get

Hollis jogs forward, trying to keep Beta in his line of sight. When he gets to the stairs he throws his arms wide and flies partway up the stairs.

Beta jets forward and is able to call out a position for Mordack to blast a pair of the hostiles, the columns of fire seemingly reaching out to engulf the pair...

Reflex Save, Crustacean (Green): 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (18) + 7 = 25
Reflex Save, Azlanti (Purple): 1d20 + 3 ⇒ (19) + 3 = 22

Unfortunately for Mordack, both are able to duck away from most of the blast. They still show singe marks.

The trailing Azlanti rushes forward and fires at the Starfinder leading the pack, Beta.

AG Assault Rifle: 1d20 + 11 ⇒ (5) + 11 = 16

Beta sees the Azlanti lining up a shot and ducks quickly up into the smoke, causing the Azlanti to miss completely.

Gear 2.0, Goose, and Buzz are up!

Current conditions: Thin atmosphere, low gravity. Red is 30 ft in the air. All squares with fire are dangerous, and provide total concealment.

Gear and boytoy rush forward, boytoy's chest opening up to reveal a laser artillery cannon. Gear starts tapping away at a Holoscreen that appears in front of her, giving her vision with Boytoy.

Let's show them how we do this!

Moves from both.

Buzz moves forward.

Double move.

Gear 2.0 and her Boytoy rush up and prepare for the battle.

ROUND 1 ends
ROUND 2 begins

Buzz continues to move forward towards the Azlanti.

Botting Goose
Goose flips out a pistol and fires a blast from cover at the crustacean alien creature.

Stealth Trick Attack: 1d20 + 23 ⇒ (14) + 23 = 37
Azimuth Laser Pistol vs Green EAC /w range increment: 1d20 + 10 - 2 ⇒ (11) + 10 - 2 = 19
Damage (F): 1d4 + 3 ⇒ (3) + 3 = 6
Trick Attack Damage (F): 3d8 ⇒ (6, 8, 1) = 15

Goose's shot is unerring and strikes the strange alien square in the chest, causing the creature to falter future attempts to dodge (21 damage, Green is flatfooted from Trick Attack)

The Azlanti at the forefront (Purple) fires a pair of shots at Beta.

Full Attack vs Beta KAC: 1d20 + 11 - 4 ⇒ (3) + 11 - 4 = 10
Full Attack vs Beta KAC: 1d20 + 11 - 4 ⇒ (14) + 11 - 4 = 21

Beta continues to dodge incoming fire with relative ease.

The crustacean rushes forward and jabs at Beta with a spur inside his claw.

Venom Spur vs Beta KAC: 1d20 + 16 ⇒ (13) + 16 = 29 Damage (P): 1d6 + 10 ⇒ (6) + 10 = 16

Beta finally gets clipped by an attack, and of course it would be the poisoned one wouldn't it? Beta feels just a little woozy...

Fort Save DC 14 vs Poison for Beta

Meanwhile, the Red Azlanti activates some sort of device and promptly vanishes...

Gone invisible... left a token at his last known location.

Mordack, Hollis, and Beta are up!

Hollis tries to figure out what the Hell is attacking Beta.

Life Science: 1d20 + 3 ⇒ (9) + 3 = 12

Hollis sights down his static arc pistol at the creature attacking Beta.

Improved Get'Em: 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (6) + 7 = 13 Unlikely to hit, however everybody gets a +2 morale bonus to attack the bug.

He fishes out his advanced medkit, as his allies might need some first aid soon.

Edited: made a mistake that I changed hereunder, Vanguard's target EAC for Combat Maneuver's when they have the corresponding Improved Combat Maneuver.

Beta dodges the shots, but is hit by the clawed beast, although the android's built in enhanced resistance mitigates the blow. But it still sees poison dripping and trying to get into its system... to no avail, the android's nanos reject the poison.
Fort DC 14: 1d20 + 14 ⇒ (16) + 14 = 30
Beta looks at this crustacean, trying to see if it knows what species it is, checking to see if it has eyes, and trying to figure out what this might be.

Used: 1 charge for Jet Pack
Damage: -8 (104/112 SP)
Status, either: • EAC 27 / KAC 27 vs. crustacean ; & 0 EP
or: • EAC 27 / KAC 27 vs. all ; EAC 28 / KAC 28 vs. crustacean; & 1 EP

Mordack moves forward and magic missiles green or purple if green is dead before he gets to it. dmg: 2d4 + 2 ⇒ (4, 2) + 2 = 8 That's right magic missiles hurt the head and the chest, not the hands and feet

As the battle rages on, Hollis attempts to puzzle out the strange alien creature before them. Unfortunately he comes up short, the bizarre anatomy not ringing any bells. So distracted is he, he misses his shot.

Beta on the other hand recognizes the creature as an Iztheptar, an alien species whom the Azlanti conquered long ago and after substantial genetic modifications now serve the Azlanti willingly and loyally. Beta is fairly certain they are not resistant to any particular form of damage - either kinetic or energy-based - though no weaknesses to speak of either. They tend to be stuffed full of strange biotech augmentations. Beta kicks rocks at the alien's eye stalks and the thing cries in pain and shuts his sore eyes... (Iztheptar is blinded for 1 round)

Mordack plugs the alien with a few missiles. (-8 to the Iztheptar)

One of the azlanti says something and moves forward, aiming past Beta at Mordack.

Boytoy gives Mordack Soft Cover, but the Azlanti ignore 2 AC of that, so Mordack has +2 AC against this attack.

AG Assault Rifle vs Mordack KAC+2: 1d20 + 11 ⇒ (2) + 11 = 13 Whiff!

Gear 2.0, Goose, and Buzz are up!

"They've decided not to attack Beta any longer and are going to target you guys in the back!

Beta is happy its dirty trick worked on this oversized cra... this Iztheptar.
It broadcasts the info' - or absence of info' - to its comrades.

Status
Used: 1 charge for Jet Pack
Damage: -8 (104/112 SP)
EP: 1
• EAC 27 / KAC 27 vs. all
• EAC 28 / KAC 28 vs. Iztheptar

Buzz squints, a targeting reticule appearing in his field of vision, locking-on to Blue.

+++Target Lock Confirmed+++

He then opens fire.

Aphelion Artillery Laser, CRIT: 1d20 + 14 ⇒ (20) + 14 = 34, for 6d8 + 16 ⇒ (3, 8, 5, 5, 3, 8) + 16 = 48 Fire damage.

Burn: 1d6 ⇒ 4.

Goose fires another blast from cover at the crustacean alien creature.

Stealth Trick Attack:: 1d20 + 23 ⇒ (9) + 23 = 32
Azimuth Laser Pistol vs Green EAC /w range increment:: 1d20 + 10 ⇒ (20) + 10 = 30
Damage (F):: 1d4 + 3 ⇒ (3) + 3 = 6
Crit Damage (F):: 1d4 + 3 ⇒ (1) + 3 = 4
Trick Attack Damage (F):: 3d8 ⇒ (5, 3, 8) = 16
Critical Hit Trick Attack Damage (F):: 3d8 ⇒ (6, 8, 8) = 22

Aiming perfectly, Goose connects with a tremendous laser blast to the creatures hideous face!

Both the Azlanti targetted by Buzz and Goose's alien victim crumple to the ground, burnt to a crisp.

Blue and Green are dead.

Gear 2.0 still to act.